Coffin Road: An utterly gripping crime thriller from the author of The China Thrillers

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Well there are two things behind it really. One, was this vision I had in my mind’s eye of a man washed up on a deserted beach. I very much knew what beach it was, it was a beach called Luskentyre on the Isle of Harris which has been voted the most beautiful beach in Britain and one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world, and it’s enormous. It’s winged by mountains and the sea is turquoise, it’s an extraordinary place. And I just had this image of a guy getting washed up there, coming to, and realising that he had no idea who he was, where he was or how he’d got there. And that was the vision that I had for the opening of the book. I don’t think I’m sharing any spoilers by mentioning that the novel touches on the work of large pharmaceutical / drug companies and agro / biochemicals and stuff. My eyes tend to glaze over when it comes to conspiracy theories and that coupled with detailed information about bees could have sent me running for the hills.

Coffin Road by Peter May | Goodreads

Neal’s memory loss seems a clever clue for what’s to come. Did you set out to draw a comparison in this way? [spoiler] In Edinburgh, a teenage girl, Karen, is in rebellion over the suicide death of her father. She does not want to believe that he is gone even though 2 years have passed and he has not been heard from since the day his boat and a note was found out at sea. The only clue to his condition is a map of the island showing a desolate, ancient path called the Coffin Road. With a sense of dread and no clear idea what lies at the other end, he knows he must follow the trail if he has any hope of discovering his identity. This thriller series is popular for the tempestuous relationship between Chinese detective Li Yan, and acerbic American pathologist Dr. Margaret Campbell from Chicago. The China Thrillers landed Peter the only honorary membership of the Chinese Crime Writer’s Association awarded to a westerner for its vibrant portrayal of contemporary Chinese life. Funnily enough - because it is so unexpected - is that his book is mostly about the importance of bees and how modern pesticides kill hem. To not spoil anything I will not reveal exactly how bees tie the plot together, but they do.His neighbours know him as Neal Maclean, a writer who is almost finished a book about three lighthouse keepers gone missing from the Flannan Isles in 1900. It soon becomes apparent to him that this is a cover, but for what? A boat trip to one of the Flannan Isles, Eilean Mor, leads to a discovery that explains the dread, and has him wondering if he is a murderer.

Coffin Road | Peter May Author

Interessante è anche il fulcro della storia: una ricerca sulle api e sulla loro sopravvivenza, per garantire un futuro sostenibile al genere umano. Uno studio ostacolato, condotto privatamente in gran segreto, i cui risultati rischiano di essere boicottati, perché la loro divulgazione desterebbe non poco scompiglio fra i colossi che speculano nel settore degli insetticidi. In addition to being an accomplished novelist, Peter has also made himself a name and career in the film and television industries. His television career took off with The Standard, in 1978 which was based off of the characters in his first novel, The Reporter. Peter was then the co-creator and writer of Squadron, a series about an RAF rapid deploying squadron that aired on BBC starting in 1982. A teenage girl lies in her Edinburgh bedroom, desperate to discover the truth about her father's death. Two years after the discovery of the pioneering scientist's suicide note, Karen Fleming still cannot accept that he would willfully abandon her. And the more she discovers about the nature of his research, the more she suspects that others were behind his disappearance. Nothing, absolutely nothing since I found myself washed up, semi-conscious, on the Traigh Losgaintir, has made sense. My memory loss. My failure to find a single clue to my identity, beyond my name, even in my own home. My affair with Sally. The book on the Flannan Isles mystery that I am not writing. Beehives on the coffin road. My missing boat. Now someone trying to kill me. And someone else stepping in to save me. The weight of it all is very nearly crushing.” Neal sleeps a long time and is awakened by a visit from the couple from next door. He tries to fudge his way through a conversation about the book he is supposedly writing, and a little later there’s a surprising romantic interlude which is even more confusing, but welcome and relaxing. He finds a map with a route along Coffin Road marked, so he figures he might was well go to the end of the mark and see what’s there. His lady friend offers to drive him.

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All 3 characters of the story eventually become interwined, and it was overall an entertaining read, and I did like the ending and came to like the characters, but a lot of the first half was slow, and it took me a while to warm to Neal, who I did like by the end, but it still didn't make up for a long first half, nonetheless its still worth a read. This is probably the best book I have read so far this year and really I shouldn't be surprised as I have never been disappointed by Peter May's story telling. In addition to the Lewis Trilogy, the Enzo Files, and the China Thrillers, Peter was also able to write six standalone novels including his very first novel, The Reporter published in 1978. In this novel, investigative reporter, Colin Anderson, unknowingly puts his life and the life of his assistant, Janis Sinclair, on the line when he begins to uncover what could very well be the biggest international sabotage of all time. Peter’s other standalone novels include Fallen Hero 1979, Hidden Faces 1981 and 1982, The Noble Path 1992 and 1993, Virtually Dead 2010, and Entry Island 2014. Television and Film

Book review: Coffin Road by Peter May - Debbish Book review: Coffin Road by Peter May - Debbish

He finds himself washed up on a beach with no memories of who he is. With the help of a few clues from people who seem to know him, he finds where he lives, but his house has no more clues to who he is than his own brain is providing. I was introduced to Peter May by a Goodreads friend (thanks Gary) and am really enjoying his books. This book is his most recent and I looked forward to reading it whenever I had to put it down. Then you have Neal’s lover. Now who is she? And what are all those bee stings about? Why, let’s have some excruciating exposition to explain and how a Swiss agribusiness is ruining the world for future tattooed, multiply pierced, dyed hair, promiscuous, ignorant wee lasses.

When Detective George Gunn was summonsed to cross the Atlantic to the Flannan Isles where a long standing mystery was still unsolved, his sense of unease was great. The ensuing discovery of a man’s body with no identification meant Gunn had to find his killer, as well as a motive – and he wasn’t sure he was up to the task.

Coffin Road: An utterly gripping crime thriller from the

With the action going on in the Outer Hebrides, there is a third mystery forming in Edinburg, where a teenage girl is making discoveries that turn her world upside down. It’s been two years since her father’s disappearance was ruled a suicide, and Karen’s mother has just moved her boyfriend into the house with them. Karen’s transformation from a young teen at the time of her father’s death to a bitter, rebellious young woman with multiple tattoos and body piercings two years later has brought her to the point of breaking with her mother. Desperate for an anchor, Karen Fleming turns to her godfather, who worked with her father, for information about her father, something to help her find closure. She finds anything but closure, and lives are in danger as a result.

Looking forward to 2022

Peter May also is adept at turning out interesting characters, and his movement of them reminds me of chess pieces that are strategically and expertly placed. The main character of the novel is that of the amnesia sufferer, Neal Maclean, so readers must deal with an unreliable narrator much of the time, but one on a fascinating path. There are alternating narrators, with George Gunn and Karen Fleming taking their minor turns, but it is through Neal that readers must try to make sense of most of the twists and turns. Being a fan of the unreliable narrator when done well, I think May pulls it off quite well with the amnesia being the vehicle of unreliability. With every move towards regaining identity and memory, Neal Maclean edges towards reliability, and the story moves towards resolution. But the story itself came from something that I’d had in my head for several years in fact. And I’d just been trying to find a way of telling the story, to do justice to the idea that I had. And the idea I had, I suppose it’s an ecological thing, it’s about bees. Which doesn’t sound like a very promising subject. Bees are essential effectively to the long-term survival of the human race, because they pollinate about 70% of the root vegetables, the crops that we eat and need to survive. And they’re dying off at an enormous rate. Basically the major problem is a particular type of pesticide which is being peddled by several of the world’s biggest agrochem producers, and who are in total denial about it.